Understanding the Impacts of Digital Nomadism on Local Communities

Abstract

Digital work has shown the importance of information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) in everyday life, particularly in the case of ‘digital nomads’. Digital nomads are a rapidly growing cohort of extremely mobile and typically Western IT professionals and entrepreneurs. The popularity of the lifestyle grew around the mid-2010s with the proliferation of digital IT, which allowed people to live a lifestyle with high temporal and spatial flexibility and high degrees of freedom. By working globally using variations of digital platforms, these digital nomads adopt a lifestyle that combines work with travelling to maximise their cultural-experiential and monetary outcomes. The ideal destinations for digital nomads are localities with a good internet connection, appropriate visitor facilities and a low cost of living. Thus, many digital nomads gravitate to places such as Bali, Indonesia and Chiang Mai, Thailand. However, prior research on digital nomads has spent little time examining digital nomadism from the perspective of local communities. This PhD thesis focuses on understanding the impact of digital nomadism on local communities by inductively examining the data and using a grounded-theoretical approach. Although the thesis engages with related literature (i.e. digital nomadism, lifestyle migration and mobility), it does not adopt a predetermined theoretical lens. The grounded theoretical approach is appropriate because it allows us to understand the data obtained from interviews with the informants and other sources (e.g. online data and archival documents) without any pre-imposed assumptions and conceptions. This thesis comprises three related papers. Each paper has its own focus, and ultimately, the combination of the three papers will give readers good insights using different angles that look at the impacts of digital nomadism on local communities. The first paper presents an overview of the phases of digital nomadism and examines the different impacts each phase has on local communities. Based on archival (natural) global data (e.g. social media posts, blogs and media reports), this paper reveals the three different types of digital nomads and the different phases of their interactions with the local communities: 1) exploring, 2) connecting and 3) immersing phase. The phases are dynamic and explain that digital nomads are very dynamic in their work/travel behaviour and ultimately also shape their interactions and impacts on local communities. The second paper discusses the impacts of digital nomadism on local communities based on the case of Canggu, Bali, in Indonesia. The analysis examines how digital nomads lead to local transformations over time. The local transformation is explained in three different phases: 1) initiation, 2) growth and 3) maturity phase. Each phase has unique impacts, some of which are considerably positive (e.g. economic growth, job opportunities), and some are unwanted (e.g. gentrification and a sense of unfairness). The third paper is a case study of Chiang Mai, Thailand, which is one of the top destinations not only for digital nomadism but also for other types of visitors, such as backpackers and mass tourists. The analysis compares digital nomads with other types of visitors. This paper reveals that there are different types of visitors in Chiang Mai 1) mass tourists, 2) backpackers, 3) digital nomads 4) expats, and from local perspectives, digital nomads and each category of visitors has its own unique characteristics and impacts. Overall, the three papers concluded in this thesis provide unique insights that shed light into understanding better the impacts of digital nomadism on local communities.